Blog Post #1 Topic #1 - Tara Saljooghi

Blog Post #1 

When discussing “Before the Law” by Franz Kafka, my group had different opinions on which literary theory fit best with this short story. We decided that the Marxist theory encompassed all aspects of exposing the inequalities and the imbalance of power that occurs amongst the countryman and the gatekeeper. The main struggle that the countryman faces is getting access to enter the gate, in which I think the gate represents the law. Kafka stated “…the law should always be accessible for everyone…” which seems to be a common Marxist idea. Though the law states it is accessible to everyone, it is shown that it is only accessible to the people who can afford it and belong to a high social class, shown by denying the countryman entrance. The story continuously shows the imbalance of power between the countryman and the gatekeeper which illustrates a sort of ladder as if the gatekeeper is on top, “…But take note: I am powerful’”. The gatekeeper is looking down on the countryman who is struggling to climb the ladder. By having the title of “gatekeeper” I think it gives him an unspoken power. This makes it harder for the countryman to communicate with the gatekeeper because the gatekeeper has a mindset that he is better than the countryman. Another idea that my group came up with is the powerless victims from the Marxism theory. Though the gatekeeper accepts all the countryman’s possessions, he is still not allowed past the gate, further proving that as a countryman, he holds no power or ability to get past the law, “the man, who has equipped himself with many things for his journey, spends everything, no matter how valuable…but, as he does so, says, ‘I am taking this only so that you don’t think you have failed to do anything.’”. it is clear that the countryman has given what seems like his all into getting past the gate, but is still unable to do so.

A different approach is the psychological theory. One way of looking at this is that the gates could represent “God”. In a sense that we all have different fates and paths and at the end of our journeys we enter the “gates” into heaven. This doesn’t fit the Marxist approach because the higher power does not intend for people to have inequalities of power nor does it intend for people of lower social classes to be banned from entering the gates.  Another way this theory incorporates itself is that the gates could be looked at as subconscious barriers to the countryman’s success—he is the only one that can unlock the gate. These thoughts are personal to his fears which are keeping him out of the gate, “…he decides it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside”. The countryman’s’ own conscious is denying him access to enter the gates because he is, instead, looking for permission that he will never receive.

While the psychological theory shows comprehensive evidence of how it could perfectly fit the short story, I believe that the story is better achieved through the Marxist theory. There is more symbolism shown about the inequalities and the imbalance of power that affect the countryman and his inabilities to get past the gate rather than the psychological mindset blocking his path.

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